(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
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001-144_41057.indd 61 4/24/14 7:22 PM60 The Drawing Club(Text)
Chapter 4: Improvisation
The cooks and bakers did all their work off recipe cards that
specified things such as “chop up a case of tomatoes” or “crack
fifty eggs.” Most of the time, the food tasted pretty good.
One day, for an important catered dinner, my boss brought in
the executive chef. He arrived wearing a three-piece suit, a la
James Bond, and carried a briefcase of beautiful knives. Inside
the walk-in refrigerator, he quickly scanned our inventory and
ordered me to grab this and that. When I asked him what we
were making, he said, “I’m figuring it out.” He gave me specific
instructions on prepping, then started cooking.
The food came out perfectly and right on time. He made up
the dishes we served on the spot based on the best stuff we had.
I’m naturally more of a planner, so I’m perpetually in awe of
improvisers like the James Bond chef—and a lot of the artists
who show up at The Drawing Club. It doesn’t matter what
materials they have to draw with or how short the poses are,
they can make magic in the moment because they can think
on their feet.
Still, a lot of amazing artists like to plan, and their results are
proof of their excellence and attention to detail.
But it’s always good to break out of your comfort zone. If you’re
naturally a planner, try improvising by working with a material
that you don’t usually try. For example, if you usually draw with a
charcoal pencil, try an assortment of colored pencils instead. Or
if you usually draw big, try drawing small. Feeling a little bit lost
at first is natural, but as you start to improvise and play with the
media, you might find yourself seeing and thinking differently.I’m naturally more of a planner, so I’m
perpetually in awe of improvisers.
Before I went to art school, I worked as an assistant cook in
a restaurant cafeteria. We served three full meals a day, plus
catering. It was a pretty big operation. Lots of food was
being made all the time, always under a tight deadline.
If you already like to improvise, try a little advance planning
instead every once in a while. Adding a dash of structure every
now and then can be good for everyone. For example, if you like
to design with loose, flat shapes, focusing on three-dimensional
form can be a great way to change things up. When you draw
with flat shapes again, don’t be surprised if you see those shapes
a little bit differently after your field trip with structure. Variety
is good and helps us grow.At The Drawing Club, the whole presentation revolves around
structure. We start right at 7 p.m. The model is dressed up in
character and takes a pose of a predetermined length of time in a
specifically built set, the lighting is set up to help communicate
drama and form, and the music is from a set playlist. The artists
have the choice of following the structure as it is presented and
trying to translate it as accurately as possible—or they might
decide to just use all of this as inspiration and improvise in their
own direction. The atmosphere at The Drawing Club provides
both structure and room to improvise. I think it is important to
have an environment where both types of artists feel comfortable
because there are a million ways to do a great drawing.
In this chapter, we will take a look at how some of the artists
at The Drawing Club improvise when they draw. You will see
how different people define taking chances and how improvisa-
tion means different things to different people.Car Wash, colored pencil and watercolor on paper, Rich Tuzon(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
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61(Text)
I’m naturally more of a planner, so I’m
perpetually in awe of improvisers.
Before I went to art school, I worked as an assistant cook in
a restaurant cafeteria. We served three full meals a day, plus
catering. It was a pretty big operation. Lots of food was
being made all the time, always under a tight deadline.
If you already like to improvise, try a little advance planning
instead every once in a while. Adding a dash of structure every
now and then can be good for everyone. For example, if you like
to design with loose, flat shapes, focusing on three-dimensional
form can be a great way to change things up. When you draw
with flat shapes again, don’t be surprised if you see those shapes
a little bit differently after your field trip with structure. Variety
is good and helps us grow.At The Drawing Club, the whole presentation revolves around
structure. We start right at 7 p.m. The model is dressed up in
character and takes a pose of a predetermined length of time in a
specifically built set, the lighting is set up to help communicate
drama and form, and the music is from a set playlist. The artists
have the choice of following the structure as it is presented and
trying to translate it as accurately as possible—or they might
decide to just use all of this as inspiration and improvise in their
own direction. The atmosphere at The Drawing Club provides
both structure and room to improvise. I think it is important to
have an environment where both types of artists feel comfortable
because there are a million ways to do a great drawing.
In this chapter, we will take a look at how some of the artists
at The Drawing Club improvise when they draw. You will see
how different people define taking chances and how improvisa-
tion means different things to different people.Car Wash, colored pencils and watercolor on paper, Rich Tuzon(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
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